3 teens were among medical responders to Hesston shooting

Feb. 28--HESSTON -- Three Hesston High School seniors were credited Saturday with being part of the medical response to the mass shooting Thursday at Excel Industries.

Mayor David Kauffman said Jon Weber, Levi Caffery and Austin Bollinger had been training with the city's volunteer ambulance service and responded Thursday night. Two of them also responded inside the building, where most of the shooting had taken place.

"We have many local heroes," Kauffman said.

He included police, ambulance volunteers, other first responders, and Excel employees who helped others get out among those heroes.

Hesston USD 460 Superintendent Ben Proctor said the school was being particularly vigilant about making counseling services available to the seniors who responded.

"They seem to be doing very well," Proctor said. "We want to be sure they are doing well."

City Administrator Gary Emry said they had been training with emergency medical services for less than six months.

Proctor said he has lived in Hesston four years and knew there were great people in the community, but he didn't realize just how far that went until now.

"What I've seen over the past two days has blown me away," Proctor said.

Schools had class Friday, and he was impressed by how well the students handled Thursday's events.

"I can't stress enough how proud I am of our kids," he said.

Some, although not many, families kept their children out of school Friday for grieving, he said.

Kauffman said the investigation into the shootings will be ongoing, but it was time for most of the community to turn its attention to healing, a process that already included a candlelight vigil on Friday.

Today will include a pair of events at the high school for that purpose. A town hall meeting will be at 1:30 p.m. in the school commons for residents to ask questions and offer ideas. Then there will be a community church service at 6 p.m. in the gym.

"As a city, we will get through this together," Kauffman said.

Emry said Hesston showed remarkable resilience after a deadly tornado struck the town in 1990, and that same resilience will serve the community well now.

"We're not going to let this define us," he said.

Along streets throughout Hesston, drivers saw Hustler and BigDog mowers and equipment, many with flags or signs of support. Excel Industries manufactures both brands of equipment.

Ray Peirce was among those showing support, with a BigDog mower with an American flag outside his house on Sunset Drive.

"This community is something," he said. "I think you're seeing it, driving around."

"Have you been to the college (Hesston College)?" asked Carol Peirce, his wife. "They had a whole row of them. They're just all over town."

The Peirces said they don't have any family who work at Excel, but they know people who work there.

Like Emry, Carol Peirce compared Thursday's shootings to the 1990 tornado in terms of how shocking they were.

"People just can't imagine this happening," she said.

And like in 1990, she said she was impressed by how the community was responding.

Not just Hesston

Thursday's shootings weren't just a Hesston issue, Kauffman said.

As Excel has rapidly grown in recent years, a majority of its workers commute from out of town. Kauffman said he wants people affected by the shooting to know that they have the Hesston community's support, whether they live in the city or not.

Likewise, he expressed gratitude for all of the support surrounding communities have provided, through response assistance and well-wishes.

Copyright 2016 - The Hutchinson News, Kan.